Jesus walks on water

15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. 16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

Today’s text is about how we deal with the storms in our life…you have them, I have them.

Storms in life are inevitable

IF you were Jesus…God on earth 100% human…what would you do in a storm? Not change it… how bout go to your father? Where is the best place to be in the midst of a storm? with your heavenly father

That’s exactly what we see Jesus did.

The people wanted to push him towards a political kingdom and he went to his father.

Look what happened to the disciples… Jesus sent them off in the boat. and they got into a storm of their own. This was a natural thing in the sea of Galilee -200 ft… 3000 ft mountains

The storm didn’t scare them…these were fishermen…they were used to this.

How about the storms in your life?

Miracles produce awe or fear

What caught them off guard was Jesus walking on water… a miracle

Matthew 14:26 NIV

26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Jesus hadn’t done this before…at least hey hadn’t seen it.

If Jesus had said, row out into the storm and Ill walk out on the water to you…do you think that would have changed things? Yes. IF we knew how God is going to work we are much more confident in obeying.

But that’s just it, we don’t know how things will work out so often we find fear in doing what God asks us to do…especially when God starts to work and we don’t understand it.

WE like predictable… we like things just the way they have always been.

But when we recognize God at work in the storms of our life, everything changes.

Jesus didn’t need the disciples

The disciples needed Jesus.

I’ve often wished I could be like the disciples… amazing - faith filled followers of Jesus. We lift up the disciples as though they were super men of faith…but the reality is they didn’t get it… at least not for a while.

There is a real difference between the disciples at this point and disciples today. You see, when they didn’t have Jesus physically present with them, they had no connection to him. Followers of Jesus today, when we put our faith in Jesus, God sends the Holy Spirit to come and live in us. You see we have a built in connection with God that only Jesus could provide for these early disciples.

So when they saw him walking on the water, they needed him in the boat. Jesus wasn’t hitchhiking....he was walking on water. He didn’t need them.

They needed him, more than they could imagine.

Look what happens when they accept Jesus into the boat.

Jesus brings peace.

This isn’t the whew… i’m no longer scared to death” kind of peace; Jesus brings peace that changes us, yes; but Jesus brings the shalom of God. That's where things are made right, made as God intended it. The text doesn’t say the storm stopped, that’s not Johns point. John’s point is that when Jesus came into the boat, everything was right.

What happened that changed their fear? Jesus spoke, It is I, don’t be afraid.

John 6:20 NIV

20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”

I’m here, everything is going to be alright… It’s what JAG spoke of last week when he talked about Joshua 1:9

Joshua 1:9 NIV

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

That’s when I realize how often I am just like the disciples. I forget

…we forget what Jesus has done…we take our eyes off Jesus and focus instead on the storm in our lives.

We believe more in our problem that the one who promises to be our peace.

ILL: Woman with lazy son.

Get your eyes off the storm and look to Jesus.

Stop trying to figure out how to get out of this… and instead find the one who is trying to show you the way.

So that, NOW, no matter the circumstances, we who are his disciples now have Christ with us always and he will bring us through it – When we are His and He is ours, we have a song of victory.

There’s a story John Wesley tells from when he’s on a ship that’s crossing the ocean going from England to Georgia in the Colonies. Wesley had never been on a ship before. They’re 7 days from land and it’s the third and most violent storm. They’re worried that the ship is going to be lost in a storm at sea. “The sea spilled over the ship, split the mainsail, and poured between the decks as if the great deep had already swallowed us up.” The English passengers screamed in fright; the German Moravians calmly continued singing the psalm without intermission. Wesley was impressed with their faith in the face of death. He saw the difference in the hour of trial, between those who truly knew Jesus Christ and those who didn’t. Even though he’d been a preacher for some time now, he didn’t have that faith.

Pentacost - the arrival of the Holy Spirit

God the creator of the universe…the all powerful…the healer…our protector…our savior…is with you.

Sometimes God delivers us from the storm; but God is always with us.

And fear is a liar. Fear always tells us how bad things could be, might be, should be… but fear never shows us God’s promise. Fear never reminds us of God’s love. Fear never reminds us of the truth. Fear is a liar.

This week in our followers made group we talked about how we are starting to see how God is using the storms of our past to give us glimpses of how God wants to use us for future ministry. Things that used to cause us to be fearful or ashamed, are actually becoming things that we are glad happened to us because God is doing something through them.

Our fear is turning to joy…we are experiencing the shalom of God.

I want to tell you that it’s not just the storms of your past… God is at work in the storms of your life right now.

Someone needs to hear this today. Pentecost Sunday we are called to remember that when we put our trust in Jesus, God promises to come and live in us… not just to answer our cries for help but to be our source for life.

And when we look to Jesus, we can praise him in any storm.

Look with me to

Acts 16:20–25 NIV

20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

No matter your storm, Jesus brings peace.

Do you want to experience this sort of peace and joy? all we need to do is invite Jesus into our boat, allow him to take control.

INVITE: You have been straining in the storm for some time… but what I want to tell you is that Jesus wants to come and help you. He wants to bring all of himself into your storm. In storms, we often feel alone. As we struggle, we can’t imagine anyone going through this with us. There is nothing to fear, Jesus wants to be with you.

CALL: You may say, yes preacher, I did that back when I was a kid, when I was confirmed. What you need to know is that followers of Jesus do this every day. It’s not a one time decision…it starts there, but it’s a daily decision to surrender control of our ship to Jesus… not just in the middle of the obvious storms, but even in smooth waters we invite Jesus to lead our lives and we follow.

If you have been a Christian for a while, but you have taken the controls of your life and today you realize that you need to give them back to Jesus...

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